Main > Everything Else
Recommendations for DDR3 RAM?
Grasshopper:
I'm currently building a new PC based around an Asrock Z77 Exteme 6 motherboard, and an i5-3570k processor. However, I'm having difficulty in deciding what type of DDR3 RAM I should buy.
I don't need more than 8 GB at the moment. If fact I could probably manage with only 4GB. But I would eventually like to fill each slot with the maximum size of RAM it will take (i.e. 4 * 8GB) without having to discard RAM that I've already bought. However, in order to do that, and take advantage of the motherboard's dual channel architecture, I would have to buy at least 2 * 8GB, which is far more than I need.
So I'm wondering how much of a performance hit I would suffer if I ignore the dual channel facility for the time being, and just buy one 8GB module. It occurs to me that I could potentially compensate by buying RAM rated faster than the stock 1600MHz recommended for the processor I've chosen, and then overclock it slightly. Would this be worthwhile?
I'm also slightly concerned about the latency figures I'm seeing. Most of the 8GB modlues I've looked at are rated as CL10. However, for some reason the 4GB modules tend to have a lower latency, but I'm reluctant to buy them for the reason I gave earlier.
Any advice would be greatly appreciated.
Thanks
Cakemeister:
In my opinion, the latency numbers don't matter too much, nor does having only one stick of ram instead of two. What matters is getting high-quality ram.
I'm guessing that you will get close to zero performance hit on bootup.
I like your CPU/MB choice, but you didn't menthion what applications you are planning on running. If you play games, almost all current games are GPU-dependent, not CPU. Also, CPU dependence is not memory based, but clockspeed based.
HaRuMaN:
--- Quote from: Cakemeister on November 19, 2012, 12:00:57 pm ---In my opinion, the latency numbers don't matter too much, nor does having only one stick of ram instead of two.
--- End quote ---
I always like to have at least 2 sticks in every build, that way if the a stick dies, there's still one left to be able to boot.
Cakemeister:
A good point.
Thenasty:
Microcenter have DDR3 1333 8GB for $20.00 (4gb x 2).
Navigation
[0] Message Index
[#] Next page
Go to full version